The Missing Return
by Mananai
Summary: "It took three days for the fire to die out. Nothing remained but ashes and broken ruins, and when the fire had died out he left, knowing he was the last of his kind. He was utterly and totally alone." Slight AU about Bunnymund's past. Vague Bunny x OC
1. Chapter 1 The Fire

Chapter 1- The fire

The Warren was once a beautiful and peaceful place. Homes were built deeply into the sandstone earth and towers were built in the middle of the settlement, peeking above the green grass of the earth. There were markets of merchants selling their wares and children running havoc in the streets, dancing with their siblings in the joy of the summer mornings.

Now these were not ordinary people. They were Pookas. Now if one does not know what a Pooka is then this is the only to describe them: they are rabbits. They are rabbits that average around 6ft tall and walk on their back legs in a human like manner, and come in a variety of different shapes, colours and sizes. They are peaceful creatures and are fiercely protective of their young. They were organized into six clans; _Mahuagh, Mund, Carreon, Evne, Norte _and _Gouldn. _If you were to look closely you would notice that each Pooka was wearing a cloth and they were six different colours for each clan: red for _Mahuagh, _green for _Mund, _blue for _Carreon, _yellow for _Evne, _orange for _Norte _and purple for the _Gouldn _clan. Each cloth was personalized to the owner's content and many were a thousand shades of the same colour, each beautiful in its own way, and they were _sacred_ to every Pooka who wore them. The Pookas who did not wear their colours were outcasts who betrayed their clans or families in some way, often killers of their own kind.

The Pookas were not alone at this time though; there was a terrible foe named Man .The Pookas were constantly battling Man, as the hateful creatures wanted their pelts and their flesh to feed on. Man had only ever been nonsense, as the Pookas could drive away Man before they got too close to the Warren. The Pookas were still worried though, so the male Pookas left their wives and kits often to fight the evil Man, but Man had discovered fire, a biting foe that burned and stuck to the Pookas' fur. When the bucks rustled themselves away from home again to fight the evil Man and his fire only half returned.

Even when she was a kit she was warned about the fire of man and how its hot fingers would bite your fur and leave you with terrible scars. Her grandfather had a large scar across his back; his black fur had been bitten with horrific force, leaving bald milky white patches on his once flawless pelt. Man had previously held a war over the land the Pooka civilization rested upon –a tale she told as soon as she had opened her eyes- and they returned with hot fire and burnt the _Mahuagh _clan's section of the warren to the ground. Only two Pookas survived that fire, and none of the kits slept that night.

But now she watched as smoke began to pour out of the Warren's entrance and listened to the screams of chocking kits as they struggled to breathe in the thickening smoke. Still hidden in the grass her tears streamed from her eyes as she watched the Man clan slip away from the giant hill cheering and holding a single torch in the inky darkness as if he was lightning the way to the death of all she knew. A single Pooka emerged from the smoke, falling to the grass and gasping for air, coughing and covered in soot.

She ran to him, sprinting over grass and land faster than she had ever done in her life to be by his side. He was old and the burns on his flesh were extensive, they were hot to the touch and oozing white puss. Her stomach turned circles as she saw the yellow layer of his fat protecting his organs, his glistening insides hissed as the air he was desperately trying to gasp for escaped his lungs. His eyes were bright blue and his cloth was tattered and torn, purple in colour, and he was carrying a cherry wood staff that looked as if it had been woven. He was shivering as his life blood dripped into the grass, feeding another generation. He tried to speak to her, but the pain was too much and he groaned his words as she fumbled with her pack, trying to find her water canteen.

Her paw grasped it and she uncapped it, tipping the water onto his stomach where the burns lay. Her eyes streamed water, knowing the pain that this elder felt and it hurt her heart seeing him in this pain, and when he screamed a note so pure and heart wrenching her ears rang with it, and her face grimaced at the pain she was causing him. Blood sprayed at her face with the force of the water, slightly matting her fur. Steam hissed off his wounds as the heat battled the water. Her tears were turning into sobs now as she fought to save this buck's life, screaming apologies at him as his cries turned to moans again. She screamed for help for this poor buck, but her words were lost to the heat and screams coming from the warren, piercing her soul. They were the screams of the dead and the dying, children's cries of pain. No Pooka was coming. No Pooka could _get out. _

The Pooka who lay below her coughed violently and yet more blood escaped his lungs onto her fur and with a shaking grip deposited the staff into her hands. He whispered one last word and his eyes rolled into the back of his head, passing into the void.

"_Run…" _ The word sang in her ears and looking up once at the fire she fled, the staff held tightly in her paws.

She thought she was the only one to escape, but she was wrong.

There was another.

* * *

"Aster? You shouldn't be here!" Her called struck his ears like a slap, but he reached his arm through the gap in the wood, touching her face and caressing it lightly. She pressed her face into his paw, wrapping her own around his.

"I'm not leaving wit out ya, love…"

"Above ground! Just go! Go! We'll be fine." Her voice was desperate, begging him to leave before it was too late. She was always this selfless. He pressed his noise against hers, and tapped each of his kits' noses before ripping at the wood blocking the way into his home, the flames getting closer. His mate began to scream at him to leave, to get away but he stayed, ignoring her pleas with silence. A large timber of wood crashed near to him, stirring up cherry red sparks of fire, blasting soot and smoke into his face. Coughing harshly he pulled at the wood, it easily breaking away as his panic began to rise. He heard a shout from his mate and looked up to see a rock falling towards him. He tried to jump away from it, but he was too slow and it hit him in the forehead, blurring his vision and filling his mind with paralyzing pain. Blood trickled down his face. His body wouldn't obey his commands, and his mind kept flickering between darkness and light.

_No! Get up! GET UP! SAVE THEM! _His thoughts screamed at him.

"Hush children, papa is fine!" Her voice was laced with worry as she looked him in the eye with her own filled with love and pain, her face in a soft smile. She vanished from his view as another timber fell before him, missing his skull by inches. The wood took the view of the wood pile away from his view. He could hear her singing to the mewing kits who could not understand her words.

"Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll be alright, none can hurt you now… You and I'll be safe and sound…"

He wanted to scream, but the pain just made him groan, powerless against it. Held to the floor in a heavy heap he was forced to watch helplessly as the fire took over his home completely, his eyes had dried out from the fire, and he couldn't even close them. He heard her voice turn from singing to screams, and the noise of his dying kits would never leave him. He heard the scream of the one he loved most. That final awful cry as the fire slipped too down her throat, burning away at the last thing he had left. His mate, his three kits who had yet to grow up and everything he cared for was gone. Murdered in the flames of this broken night. He had watched them die, frozen to the ground in pain.

Sections of rock fell away from the ceiling and he struggled to hit feet, body shaking with stress. His body and sharp instincts forced him to move, to run away from his home.

_No. _He stopped the thought. _I have no home now._

He dropped to all fours and sprinted away, not daring to take one look at his previous home, tears streaking down his face as his heart broke, and the one thing he had loved was gone.

He had lost all hope.

He followed the old tunnels that ran underneath the complex; forgotten and unused he battled against the rocks build against the entrance he had read about in his books to get into the safety of them. When the rocks gave he pushed himself feverishly, the sudden rush of fresh air seemed to have fuelled the fire further and it was inches behind him as he rushed away from it. A layer of grass and dirt blocked the exit and he jumped against it, the world slipping into slow motion as the flames tickled his back, pushing him to the surface.

The fire exploded behind him as it reached more fuel for it to feast on, and it pushed him away from the exit, pushing his body to ground and breaking his ribs. With racks of pain he took deep lungful's of air, coughing up black spittle and vomiting his last meal out of his body. He could smell smoke and burning hair and his rolling stomach was making him nauseous. His frame was exhausted and the shock from his loss still had to settle into his mind. His family was dead: it felt like a dream.

The hill he had settled on was a good half mile away from the Warren, and he watched as the dark tongues of red licked at the sky, crushing the Warren into nothing. He waited for what felt like years, just to see if any other Pookas escaped, but he saw nothing apart from dancing shadows as the night collected the screams of fear.

It took three days for the fire to die out. Nothing remained but ashes and broken ruins, and when the fire had died out he left, knowing he was the last of his kind.

He was utterly and totally _alone._


	2. Chapter 2 The Stranger

**Thank to Cat871 and Lady of the Wilds for being my first followers, the support mean a lot you guys!**

**Also thanks to 'Avatar Aang' for their reveiw :)**

Key:

****"Speech"

_Thoughts_

_**Moonbeam's way of talking.**_

* * *

Chapter 2- The stranger

An 'explorer', that's what they called her. After nearly 2,000 years of running around the globe she didn't blame them, you get there when you jump from place to place on a daily basis. She snorted and quickened her pace, darting over thick bushes and dry land in her seemingly endless search for water. It was almost as if as soon as her canteen had been filled up, it emptied again, poured down her throat in the endless battle against the ever aching heat. Now she spent more time trying to find the damn stuff than she had previously done.

_That's what ya get for running straight inta a desert ya gumby_

She thought to herself, increasing her pace, angry at herself. She hadn't meant to run into the desert- she had just been roaming on open plains, and then grass turned into sand and she was stuck. Shaking her head she pressed her ears flat against her head and began to streak as fast as lightning on all fours she pushed herself harder, her nose twitching in delight as the damp scent she had picked up four miles ago became stronger. In this endless desert of dead bushes and burning sunlight the trail was nothing but dust, and the wind whipped the grainy sand into her fur, irritating her skin and making her uncomfortable. She had pulled the royal blue cloth she wore around her face and eyes to keep the sand out but nothing was working. The sun had set now though and she glumly paced herself as fast as she could, sweat soaking her fur, making her shiver in the cold air of the night.

As she continued to run for the rest of the night, stopping only once to relieve herself and shake the dust off of her royal blue cloth. While she stopped she looked at the moon, it was so bright and wonderful, and its light was a comfort in the silence night. In her limitlessness lifespan she had spoken to the moon on many occasions, but it had only ever looked at her and stared back with a blank face. It did, however, send her Moonbeam to her, a soft light that rested in the twisted rise of her staff. He was a sort of guardian angel, and had kept her out of more trouble than she was worth. For the gift of her companion alone she was grateful, as Moonbeam had aided her greatly in many of her adventures. He was sleeping now, as the previous week's activities had tried out his energies and he was begging for his rest.

Cocking her eyebrow at how close the cliffs were she wrapped her cloth around her shoulders in the usual way she wore it and dropped to all fours, sprinting to them. As she ran the cliffs of red rock in the middle of the continent became closer, and the scent became stronger. At certain points she felt as if her parched tongue could taste the water she craved and she begged herself to go faster.

A few hours into the soft sunrise the cliffs were towering above her and her dry paws pressed against every rock at the base, trying to find the entrance to the water. The sun was hot on her back; it made her fur uncomfortable and itchy, irritating her to no end. She _knew _the water was there, she could _smell_ it, and bet of all she could_ hear_ it gurgling underneath the rocks. The air was thick with the scent of water at the bottom of the cliffs and it teased her, knowing that she couldn't get to her. Her hackles raised on her back out of anger and irritation.

"Shoot." She punched the rock face with the flat of her palm, knowing the only way to the liquid was to open a tunnel, an ability she had yet to learn. Pookas-as tradition- were normally taught how to how to open the tunnels when they turned of age, but she was a year too young to be taught. And then the fire had started….

She pushed the memories to the back of her mind, shivering.

"Where are ya, ya schmuck… I'll getcha. You watch me." Her voice was low as she reached over her back and pulled her staff out of its strap, trying not to whack the ancient staff against the cliffs..

"Moonbeam... I need ya help. Wake up mate, we got work to do." She tapped the staff lightly, stirring the pale white light from his slumber. He yawned, still thickened with sleep and blinked at her.

"I need ya to open a tunnel to the water. I can smell it 'ere, but I can't get to it…"

He shifted slightly and she felt him tense in the wood, holding onto the cage like structure as he shook a hole beneath her, the sand falling into oblivion.

"Thanks mate… Go to sleep now. We'll wait by the water for a bit so ya can rest up." His light dimmed as he rolled over in the wood, his light like a soft mist.

She poked at the tunnel beneath her, the light from the morning sun was shining on her back and it warmed her better than the night had, heating her sore flesh with a soothing heat. She shrugged and keeping her staff in hand she jumped into the tunnel, vanishing into the void as the earth swallowed up the air behind her. There was no turning back now.

The tunnel had deposited her in a dark cave, and rather than waking her Moonbeam again she opted to follow the scent of water, using said Moonbeam's soft light to guide her. Her eyes were forced open by the pure and innocent colours that surrounded her when she reached the mouth of the cave. Everything about the underground meadow before her was wrong; all the colours were too bright, and almost too wonderful, they were globs of blues and greens, with brilliant pinks and oranges-the colours of spring. The air smelt wonderful and clean but it was too sweet and too sickly. The moss grew on sandstone and the markings that covered every available surface were carved with deep lines. There were rocks covered with moss and markings, shaped like golems she had known in her childhood. There was colour everywhere and there was even an underground breeze. Above her towered the red rocks she had previously been standing next to, the meadow was hollowed out in the middle of it and dipped underneath the cliffs like a bowl. She could even see the colours of the sun_ through_ the rocks, almost as it was like a hardened drum skin. The similarities between this meadow and her home caused her to half expect a group of kits to run past her, their hocks kicking up the dust on the floor in their games. Her heart clenched, yearning; it had been so long since she had been in a place like this.

_Everything looks like home._

Her pink nose twitched, trying to take in the overwhelming details, but her nose was drawn to the silver line of a river as it snaked its way the limitless stretches this place seemed to take. The large blueish-grey Pooka was hesitant but the smell of water pulled at her parched throat, and drew her closer to the river's edge

The sweet smell of fresh water and green grass held her senses tighter than a vice and after a few days travel without water she was dehydrated, so the pleasure of diving into that water outweighed the risk. Breaking out in a run she spurred herself to the water's edge where her pack, staff and cloth fell from her body and onto the grass as she did not want them wet, and she leapt with a great amount of both pleasure and joy into the river, the water flying into the air like liquid diamond.

She dove under the water, letting her fur get thoroughly soaked, listening to the tinkling silence of the water and blowing bubbles at the minnows who danced away in a flight of silver. Surfacing she took huge a lungful of moist air and then scooped handfuls of from the river, drinking slowly as not to give her stomach the cramp she had so often experienced from lack of patience.

It was cool and it was clean, and it she felt it was almost the worth the wait of seven days with no water. She lay back on the water, floating on the back of her new appointed silvery friend. She let the cool water break slight waves around her as the current pushed against her, exhaustion seeping into her bones, the wind chilling her. She began to scrub herself of all the dirt she had collected on her travels and she was pleased for the relief; the gritty sand from the world above had given her no end of troubles. After she felt her fur was clean enough she swam to the edge of the river and filled her empty canteen, watching the silver bubbles escaped from the container in an almost childlike fascination, happy that for a moment she wasn't running for her life, or rapidly trying to catch her next meal. She was -at last- contempt and peaceful.

* * *

Keeping with her promise she made for Moonbeam she went back to the cave she came in from. The river ran far away from her, the soft trickling comforted her and she preferred having the water in her line of sight. She watched as the light was leached from the sky, the vivid greens and bright colours fading into the inky purple of twilight, the fireflies coming out to play. She watched curiously as white ovals on stick ran through the grass where she had just been. Furrowing her eyebrows she watched as they chased each other, but never dared to go near the water. As quickly as they had arrived they were gone again, dancing off to another part of the meadow she had yet to explore.

Sucking on a few dried mint leave she calculated how long it would take for Moonbeam to rest up. From experience she knew it took him about two weeks' worth of sleep to be able to open tunnels at her whim for about a month. She knew that she wouldn't need that many tunnels and decided to stay for a handful of days.

_Well, while I wait I can collect some more food, and explore this place. Ya never know, could find another idea for a hit here…_

Just as she had finished chewing her leaf a dark blurr streaked past the river and then stopped, retracing its steps and pausing where she had stopped and bathed. The darkness hid the creature's identity from her and her heart began to pound as she begged the wind to keep her scent hidden away from this creature she had yet to meet. Quietly gathering up her staff and crouching on her sore haunches she watched possessively as the creature sniffed the air and felt the grass beneath itself, as if the earth itself was disturbed.

It suddenly turned around, looking her straight in the eye even though she was a great distance away, and its yellow eye shine made her back arch and hackles stand up from shock, fear encasing her like a shadow. This was an animal she had never seen before, let alone fought, and it injected black fear into her veins, her heartbeat throbbing in her ears. The creature dropped to all fours and bounded towards her, covering the ground at speeds she thought she was the only one to have.

Shock filled her as she scrambled to the middle of the cavern, trying to keep to the shadows as if they would hide her from this monster. She stopped scrambling around as the shadow reached the entrance and then vanished into the shadows to either side of her. She could hear the footsteps as it circled her, panic filling her stomach. Her eyes rolled around in their sockets, as she tried to find a source of the movements as the shadows dark enough to blind her.

"Who are you?!" She called, trying not to let the panic in her voice seep into her words. Closing her eyes instead, she searched for thumps of paws against grass with her ears and her ears began to manically twitch to find the moving creature. Her heart nearly sang when she could pinpoint the movements of her hauntings so she opened her eyes, and could barely make out the shadow as it passed her, whipping her fur into a hideous frenzy.

"I could ask ya the same thing, Shelia" His voice was low, and shared the same accent she had, which caused her to pause for a moment. He passed her again, and she heard the thumps as his paws landed on the grass and two more pats as he landed on what sounded like stone; just like the walls of the cave.

She tried to get away from him, to make a moving target but when she moved the air was knocked out of her as her prisoner hit his target, forcing her to the ground. Her staff was pushed away from her grasp and she felt her chest closing up, afraid to be away from her companion of so many years and of her hundreds of adventures. Moonbeam's light was nothing in the darkness of the cave, in his slumber the light would vanish. The stranger stood on her legs and grasped her ears at the base to hold them to the floor, pain streaking up her face in protest. She closed her eyes and waited for the death blow. She froze as a strange shape was forced against her throat and she felt him lean forward, his scent of grass and that same sweet chocolate scent filling her nostrils, making them flare. She had never been as scared in her life. Her hands clasped against the creatures arm, trying to stop it from crushing her throat

"Who are ya, an' how'd ya get into ma Warren?" His voice was low and growling, the threat was not empty, and her body began to shiver with cowardice. She was stubborn, but when she couldn't see and her staff discarded to the side she was helpless, and…. She was afraid.

"I was just lookin' for some water, I could hear the streams, I just followed the noise I'm sorry!" She strained, beginning to kick away from him, but a sharp tug on her ears stopped her struggles. He seemed to consider for a few minutes before reluctantly stepping off her legs and letting go of her ears. She sighed with relief, and held her ears in her paws, sitting up and then straightening them out and feeling for injuries, her knuckles dancing over the large veins on the inside of her ears, making sure they were unbroken. If she didn't have her sight she was damn sure her ears would guide her through this, and that meant _not_ losing her hearing. She opened her eyes; the pale blue light from the mouth of the cave was blocked by a strange largish shape that she assumed was her attacker, and he was very tall; seven foot as an estimate, he was taller than she was by a head.

"Take ya pack off." He stated simply, the shape moving out of the light and into the shadows again, away from where she could see him, the strange shape was still in his hands, and his outline vanished.

"But I-" She began to protest, fumbling around in the darkness.

"Take it off!" There was no anger in voice, but the sudden outburst caused her to flinch anyway. She miserably unclasped it from her pack, and threw it towards the direction his voice had come from. She didn't hear it land but she did hear the buckle being undone as he began to look through it. She heard her canteen hit the cave floor sloshing full with water, then her medicinal pouch which contained about six different herbs used for healing, many of which she had scavenged from the outside world.

There was an uneasy silence for several minutes, during which she listened to the sound of her things being thrown aside, and the cutting noise of water dripping further back in the cave; the noise echoed in her ears, and made them twitch every once in a while. She didn't dare to move, not even to find her staff to defend herself if he were to attack. She listened to all the things being put back into her pack, and then it was forced against her bruising chest where he had forced her to the floor. She heard him stand up.

"Get up."

"Whe-"

"I swear to Manny, if I have to repeat m'self one more time Shelia, ya in for a whole heap of trouble. Is that understood?" He leaned in close to her face, threatening her with his ears flat against his skull, breathing in her face. She nodded twice, and was pulled to her feet and dragged away from the cave, him following behind her and she was shoved into the night outside of the cave. He pushed her out first, making sure that she couldn't see his face. Her heart began to hammer in her chest as the pale purple began to fade into the night sky, the warm colours of spring fading to a dead and starless black.

* * *

**And so the Plot thickens **

**Updates every Sunday and Wednesday GMT **


	3. Chapter 3 The Discovery

**Thanks to everyone with their support! It means a lot! Please read the A/N at the bottom for big news**

Key:

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

_**Moonbeam's way of talking.**_

* * *

Chapter 3- Discovery

Moonbeam was whimpering in her staff, his faint light was flickering in the twilight with fear. There were not many people who could take his charge hostage so easily, and for this strangers to overpower her with his strength was terrifying. Many had tried to take his charge for themselves, tried to hunt her for her pelt or flesh but none could get her, she was as quick as the wind and she fought too hard. She had scars where the wrong type of humans had gotten too close, where they had almost had her, but Moonbeam had helped her. He had merged his strength with hers and fought against them, their minds and bodies becoming one.

Her fingers danced over the wood where her Moonbeam slept, trying to calm his thoughts that were toying with her own, the panic of his own mingled with hers, rising from the depths of her chest. Her eyes were wild as the stranger led her to a part of the meadow she had never even known was there, let alone ever seen a way out. She knew that Moonbeam was too weak to open another tunnel, so she walked and waited her fate.

There was a soft purple light glowing from a cavity in the ground and she found herself drawn to its hypnotic light, walking towards it without ordering her feet to. It looked like a kind of plant life and it was something she had never seen before. Around the light were four logs, arranged around it a square as if others had been here before, the space around it sandy dirt. Surrounding this camp looking settlement was a large open cave, covered in dark green moss, moist with life. She could hear the trickling of water somewhere in the back of the cavity and rather than feeling intimidated by the stoned entrance it was cool and inviting-a feeling she would have never expected to feel. Dotted around the mouth of the cave were pale pink plants that had thick stems and a nostalgic aroma- a scent she hadn't smelt since the Warren fire. She ran towards them carelessly and rubbed her paws over the velvety petals, inhaling as much of the scent as possible. As the pollen collected on her fur each inhalation brought back a waves of memories from forgotten parts of her mind.

"Where did ya get these? I 'aven't seen these in years…" Her paws kept stroking the plant, she wanted to pick one of the flowers but her heart told her that would be wrong to pick a flower in a stranger's home.

"I grew 'em myself. It was hard getting hold of the seeds mind you…" He chuckled lightly, keeping to the shadows so that she couldn't see his face.

"The last time I saw these plants was back home, well before the accident…" She said quietly, her nose sniffing at the petals once last time before she stood up, her back still the stranger.

"What sort of 'accident…?." His voice was quiet also, and his response made her hackles rise on her shoulders and her ears flatten against her head, the purple moss casting dancing shadows on the wall she was facing. Her head and ears turned towards him, her left ear pricking up curiously.

"Just a nail in the coffin." Her voice was close to a whimper as she spoke, her weight resting on the tips of her paws, ready to run if there was to be a confrontation. He grunted.

"Sit." Was the strict command, and after a moment of consideration she lowered herself onto the log, keeping her eyes on the stranger's shadow.

In the soft light he could see that her fur was a stormy grey, which was close to a greyish blue, with an off white stomach. The tendrils of cream reached under her arms and hid beneath her woven leather arm guards, which were dotted with dirty blue stones. She wore two black leather straps on her upper right arm, and six thick faded brown bands on her hocks, which contrasted with his regular amount of eight. Her cloth was made of a worn blue material and she wore it over her shoulders in a very nomadic manner, it covered the front of her chest and the longest part of it hung over her back, fringed with broken gold.

_The Carreon clan… _ He mused, snorting slightly.

Underneath the fabric was a leather pack, held in place by straps stitched into the diagonal corners and reaching round to her front, held together with a single buckle. Attached to the pack was a large leather hoop in which she kept her staff when she was running for the miles and miles she regularly did.

Her eyes were what caused him trouble most of fall, they were a deep chocolate brown, a colour uncommon but not unheard of in the Pooka's breeding. Her markings was a dull grey, but on her top part of her left arm she had a lopsided eight figure, framed on her downy fur with black. On her right thigh were three parallel scars, no longer than a couple of inches but they pulled the skin around them tight as if they were deeper than they appeared. She looked starved, almost as if she hadn't eaten enough for a few months, enough for her ribs to stand out against her skin.

Near the tip of her right ear she wore three small golden hoops, and her ears looked as if they had been dipped in shadows. Her left ear had a tear and she was missing a section the length of one of his fingers, and just a few centimeters after the tear there was a long feather pierced into her ear, help in place with a silver hook and braided red thread. The feather was the most beautiful shade of green he had ever seen, and it was an achingly familiar.

"What's ya name, Sheila?" He asked quietly and curiously, his voice coming straight across from where she sat.

"Step into the light first, you can see me, but I can't see ya… I kinda feel a little bit cheated here" She gave a quick chuckle to break the silence that seemed to have followed her comment, tightening her paws on her staff, the wood creaking with the force.

After considering for a moment he stepped into the purple hue of the light, and her fur prickled as she discovered who he was. He was a Pooka, and she was no longer alone. He sat across from her and took a stick into his paw, keeping his eyes on the ground to show submission.

Shock crept onto her face, her fear of being alone, being the _last _was obliterated, and it took every muscle in her body not to jump up and scream with happiness. She thought no-one had survived the fire.

She thought she was the last. But her thoughts were _wrong. _

All those years spent alone, nearly 2,000 years of jumping from country to country trying to find someone remotely like her. All those months spent alone in the mating season, feeling forgotten and worthless were _over._ They were nothing more than a _bad dream_.

_**Another like you… **_Moonbeam's weak whisper croaked in her ears, and they pricked at the whimsical noise.

_I am not alone! I am not the last! _Her thoughts screamed at him, knowing that he could not hear her.

But then her thoughts turned sour, and her ears pressed against her skull.

"I thought I was the last. I thought I was the only one left alive!" She said, anger rising in her voice.

"I looked for you, I looked for another survivor! I wasted my whole _life _looking for you! Where were you?! _Where were you_?!" She shouted, her anger causing her to stand and her hackles to rise.

Her anger subsided as she observed his body, and just by looking she could understand how he had earlier overpowered her so easily. Toned muscles rippled underneath his fur as he moved, and she found that the odd shape he had pressed against her throat was a serrated curved piece of wood which was attached to a leather rope of sorts.

He looked older than her as parts of his face were painted with white hairs, framing his light grey fur. Markings that looked similar to flowers held to his fur in a darker grey and what looked like three leaves were pressed on his fur above his eyes. Now his eyes, they were bright green and they reminded her of the colour of spring.

"I thought I was the last…" Her voice was a whisper again, her body sinking to the ground, her paws holding her head in shame.

"How'd ya get out?" His eyes were on the ground, using a stick to draw lines into the sandy dirty, he wasn't really focusing on what he was drawing; he was just making shapes as his mind twisted the idea around. He wasn't the last, he wasn't alone any more.

"I didn't… I was already outside when the fire started. I was late coming home; the tunnel was closed before I got there. I can't open tunnels, I was never taught how; I-I think I was too young. So I waited, I was gonna wait 'til sunrise when the tunnel was opened again. But then the shadows came with their fire… and someone told me to run. So I did... I don't remember anything else, just the flames…" She glared at the ground, the screams of that night ringing in her ears. Her ear flickered as they listened to the noise. Moonbeam wrapped his light around her face in comfort, washing the memories away with his pale sleepy light.

"I was such a coward… I coulda done something. If I stayed I coulda saved someone." She snorted, screwing her paws tightly around her staff, the wood creaking with the force of it; a sort of habit she seemed to have.

"How… did you…?" She didn't seem to be able to find the right words as he scrubbed another pattern out of the dirt.

"I followed an old tunnel." He said his eyes were dark as he threw the stick aside, standing up and heading into the cave she was facing. As the darkness swallowed him up she wondered where he was headed, and stood to follow after him.

A leaf wrapped package hit her in the stomach just as she opened her mouth to speak and her free paw caught it before it hit the ground. She tilted her head curiously at it, the scent of dried fruit widening her nose. She looked up as he exited from the shadows, carrying his own leaf wrapped parcel.

"Eat. You look hungry." He sat opposite her again, slowly unwrapping the leaves to reveal a few slices of a sort of bread, thickened with the spicy scent of cinnamon.

"But… I have nothing to repay you with…." Her eyes held confusion and her eyebrows clashed together above her eyes. She had learnt that_ everything_ came with a price, and she was expected to pay.

"Just eat the damned thing." His voice again held no anger, almost as if he was being patient with her, and she noticed he never truly looked at her.

_He must think I am a child _She snorted, her paws opening her food and breaking off parts of the bread, putting it in her mouth. She nearly groaned as the taste enveloped her tongue, the berries were sweet and not sour like the one she dried and the bread crumbled _perfectly_. It had been a while since she had eaten anything as good or as filling as this. She paced herself, knowing it would be rude to eat quicker than her…host… and she soon found that there wasn't enough here to satisfy her, even though she had what looked like half of the loaf. Even with her pacing she finished before the stranger did, and her growling stomach called for more.

"What are ya doing way out 'ere then, Shelia?" He asked, putting his barely touched food aside, his eyes grasping hers over the flickering light of the moss.

"Aside from looking for yaself?" She snorted as she lent back and looked at the drum skin like rocks above her, the clouds covering the moon and the stars as they flew over the plains.

"Nah, I was lookin' for a guy called Jasper. I need to give 'im something." She snorted slightly and drew her attention away from the night sky and looked at the Pooka before her and the bread to his side. In the distance she could hear insects singing their sweet melodies to the night.

"How long do ya reckon you'll be stayin' here for then?" He said, passing his slices of bread to her, which she gratefully accepted.

"I dunno, however long it takes Moonbeam to rest up... Am I welcome to stay...?" She cautiously between mouthfuls, slightly relaxing with the kindness this stranger was showing her.

"Yer welcome, yes. Who this Moonbeam?" He asked, scratching his fur on his chest.

"He's my guardian. He came down from the moon a few days after the fire. Doesn't talk a whole lot though." She said folding the leaf her food had been on.

"Is that so..." He nodded, and then looked at the glowing moss. He sniffed the air and then stood, walking into the shadows of his cave.

"I'm going to sleep. You're welcome to anything from my Warren, sleep where ever you like 'cept in my nest. Just don't upset my goggies." He vanished into the shadows, the darkness swallowing him.

"Goggies...?" She asked to nothing, and shrugged. Look up at the sky she couldn't help but feel that she had let Jasper down. She was already four days behind as it was and a creative river only lasted for so long. She sighed and her shoulders sagged, letting out tension she didn't know was there.

"I'll get to ya Jasper. I promise"

* * *

**_Sorry this is such a bad chapter. It will pick up in the next one, I promise!_**

**Unfortunately**** because of college I will only be able to update every Sunday. I will try to update as often as I can but between coursework and work I might not be able to update more than once a week. Sorry guys! **

**Mananai**


End file.
